For now, NMSU non-football sports remain in WAC

LAS CRUCES - While New Mexico State University has found a home for its football program, the Aggies remain in the Western Athletic Conference for their non-football sports.

And as the WAC has taken a hit from a competitive standpoint, the league has retained it's automatic qualifying berths into respective NCAA Tournament fields.

Next year, the conference will consist of the following schools: NMSU, Idaho, Seattle, Chicago State, Grand Canyon University, Texas Pan American, California State Bakersfield, Missouri-Kansas City and Utah Valley. Northern Colorado and North Dakota have been added as baseball affiliates.

While the names aren't necessarily marquee and the destination might not be desirable, the Aggies will remain eligible for postseason play in the transitioning conference.

"Kids want to compete in the NCAA Tournament, they want to compete in the postseason," NMSU Athletics Director McKinley Boston said. "The WAC has been rebuilt about four or five times. The iterations of what defines the WAC has been a very common theme over the last 20 years. I'm not so sure that the WAC won't rebuild itself again as a quality conference."

Boston did say he'd prefer all Aggie sports - football and non-football programs - to be aligned in the same league.

"I'm not so sure that one day that won't happen again," Boston said. "There are lots of discussions that we continue to have. I'm not so sure that the Sun Belt we're moving into to will be the Sun Belt that we signed up for tomorrow. Western Kentucky could be out within a week.

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Throughout the conference realignment period, the Sun Belt has remained firm in it's stance to keep it's geographic integrity in tact - a league that stretches from the southeastern sector of the U.S., into east Texas. With that being said, SBC Commissioner Karl Benson said including New Mexico State and Idaho as just football members keeps his league's geographic boundaries largely in place, while allowing the Sun Belt to acquire two FBS-ready schools to bring league football membership closer to 12 - and, in turn, closer to a football-championship game at season's end.

"It was a football-driven decision that we could justify," Benson said. "From a single-sport standpoint, it didn't jeopardize that (geographic) footprint and it allowed a football division in the west."

NMSU used AggieVision - the television broadcasting service that televises Aggie sporting events - as a major marketing technique in finding a football home. NMSU will produce and televise all home football games in 2013, and will push those contests out to Sun Belt markets throughout the season.

Such a tactic could be used in further conference explorations as well.

"It was a contributing factor," Benson said. "I'm personally aware of AggieVision and . what they've been able to do, not just from from New Mexico State production, but also provide those broadcasts to the entire membership. . It's one more television opportunity."

While finding a conference home for its football program was important, many Aggie supporters would like to see a more marquee conference for it's non-football sports to compete in.

"It's not going to be an exciting conference," said Aggie sports fan Brad Beasley. "I'll still go to the games, because it's what I've always done. But I'm not excited about the Olympic sports season."

Ernesto Garcia, Program Director for Radio of Las Cruces, said while the athletics programs still have a shot at NCAA Tournament play, competing in such a league could hurt once the postseason rolls around.

"On the bright side, the Aggies will still be in a conference with automatic NCAA Tournament bids," Garcia said. "The downside is, the level of competition, even if we do get the automatic bid, could be a big problem for the Aggies when it's time to possibly advance in the postseason."

Said Boston: "Conference realignment remains volatile. The WAC continues to have conversations with people and those conversations obviously has implications for us. I'm not hanging up the phone and not talking to people. At the same time, we're doing what everybody else is: Trying to figure out the next step in the world of volatility, in conference realignment."

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